The Bellevue man, who lived with his aunt, is held on $2 million bail in King County Superior Court.

The woman, 72, was found by her niece’s husband Sunday night after he climbed up to her apartment balcony in the 10200 block of Northeast 12th Street and entered her house through an unlocked sliding door, according to the affidavit. She was known to be in poor health and her relatives were concerned about her after she had not been heard from that day.

She was found face down next to her bed, surrounded by blood and covered with a sheet from her head to her knees, reports say. Bloody bedding was neatly folded and stacked next to the bedroom door, according to the affidavit.

A police officer reported that the back of the woman’s skull was caved in.

Police found financial documents and credit and debit cards piled up throughout the apartment, as well as clothing and shoeboxes on top of the bedding. A roll of paper towels, a sponge and cleaner were found on the bed, which detectives say is not consistent with a slaying by a stranger.

A Bellevue detective found her nephew hours later, parked a block away with an acquaintance in his aunt’s vehicle, court records say. His shirt showed what appeared to be blood stains. The acquaintance in the car told police the two had smoked crack together earlier in the day.

Police booked the nephew into King County Jail on Monday morning for investigation of homicide. Spots that appeared to be blood stains covered his pants and face, and his arms were covered in scratches.

The man did not admit to knowing what happened to his aunt when police interviewed him, though he did admit to having smoked crack.

The nephew, who remains unnamed because formal charges have not yet been filed, has 16 criminal convictions in his history, including six counts of second-degree robbery from 1998.

He was convicted of vehicle theft in 2011 – his most recent conviction – after he was caught stealing a car from a dealership lot in Bellevue and attempting to cash forged checks from family members. He lived with his mother in Mercer Island at the time.

The man was released from prison in November 2012 after serving 15 months in prison and was still on probation at the time of his arrest Monday morning, according to the state Department of Corrections. He had completed chemical dependency treatment and was prohibited from consuming drugs and alcohol as part of his probation. He is also on federal probation.

The 72-year-old woman has not yet been identified by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. The King County Prosecutor’s Office’s deadline to charge the suspect is Wednesday.